Eclipse 2017

Unless you are wearing special eclipse glasses, do not look directly at the Sun during the partial phases of the eclipse. It is still unsafe even when the Sun is more than 99% covered by the Moon.

Basic Eclipse Observing

Young child warning: Young children ordinarily won’t stare at the Sun because it hurts too much. However, as sunlight dims during a partial eclipse, it will not hurt as much as normal. As a result, you must closely monitor children to make sure they do not risk damaging their eyes by staring at the Sun during the partial phases of the eclipse.

You know it’s not safe to look directly at the Sun on a normal day, and eclipse day is no different. This means you have two basic options for observing a solar eclipse:

Use a projection technique, such as shining sunlight through pinholes in a sheet of paper onto the ground, so that you can watch the progress of the Sun without looking directly at the Sun.

Use proper eye protection that is specially designed to allow you to look safely at the Sun. Do not use ordinary sunglasses or any other type of homemade filter! You will know your eye protection is safe if it is certified to meet the “ISO 12312-2 international standard” — but even then, it is safe only if it is undamaged and unscratched.

From 9am –1pm PT on Monday, NASA will film from 12 cities for its feature “Eclipse Across America: Through the Eyes of NASA”. The program will air on NASA TV, Facebook Live, YouTube, and Twitch.